ECOWA Air Retention
How ECOWA Works
In properties with water 24/7 and pressures above 25psi:
Once you install the valve, the water meter will register everything that passes through it. The valve retains the air creating a VORTEX of air, a tornado-like turbulence, inside the pipe. This whirl flows backwards, as you can see in the image at the top of this page.
Once you install the valve, the water meter will register everything that passes through it. The valve retains the air creating a VORTEX of air, a tornado-like turbulence, inside the pipe. This whirl flows backwards, as you can see in the image at the top of this page.
With the valve retaining the air, it lets only water pass through, so the water meter will only
register WATER.
register WATER.
This tornado-like turbulence of air is thrown back, passing the water meter and it starts collecting
the air bubbles BEFORE the water meter. At the same time, the tornado is being pushed by the
water pressure against the valve, so the air will be compressed (air is a compressible fluid) and
pass through the valve as compressed bubble. The compressed air will be registered by the water
meter, but it will be less as it is COMPRESSED, not as it was registered before.
In properties where there is water rationing:
Normally, when you have a water tank, it refills without your consent. You don't notice when
there is no water in the street pipes, because you use water from your tank. When the water level
from your tank decreases, starts asking the street pipe for water, but when there is no water, there
is only air flowing through to your tank, and passing by your water meter.
When pumps are turned on, there is a big bubble that will pass through your water meter to your
tank and will be registered as water consumption.
The valve retains the air from passing through, as one can see in one of the videos under the drop-down “Watch ECOWA in Action”. The air will pass, but not as it did before. The vortex or counter-pressure created by the valve reduces the volume of air bubbles moving through your water meter by about 80%.
Our valves do not cause a pressure reduction; the pressure is always the same in the system. There is a flow reduction of about 30% (depending upon the water delivery pressure). The flow difference will not be noticed if water goes directly to a storage tank and it is being pumped to the property. If there is no storage tank, and water goes directly from the street to the taps, flow reduction will not be noticed if water delivery pressure is above 40PSI. If there’s no water storage tank and there’s low pressure, we recommend installing our next larger valve size.